Alongside him was Superintendent Bill Johnson, who said his schools have been grieving since the Florida rampage.

"We're in pain. You have to understand that this is different," he said.

Leslie Rose teaches in the nearby Hewlett-Woodmere district and backs the ban. She admits one person at her school raised the idea of giving teachers guns.

"However they hadn't discussed logistics. What if that teacher is a traveling teacher, from classroom to classroom? Where do you put the gun? Is the gun in a locker? How do you get the gun? How do you keep the gun safe?" she asked.